The Caged Bird
by Darkflames and fire
Summary: Just as things are finally calm with the Titans, Adonis is up to something. Nobody knows exactly how he will take his revenge, but he will take it. And when he does, Beastboy and Raven will be at the center of it all. BB x Rae. Requested by Kiri-Kay.
1. Chapter 1

Hello readers, today I bring you a request story from somebody by the name of "Kiri-Kay". I'm hoping to make this shorter than "Boy Troubles" but we'll see about that. Nightingale appears in this. He is my OC and all you really need to know is that he is Raven's big brother. Also, I refer to him as a demon, because he is technically a full demon. Look up "Call of the Nightingale" on my profile for more about him. Anyway. Let's start, shall we?

I don't own Teen Titans

* * *

Somewhere in the auto-district of Jump city, a scrawny man worked on a large body suit with much ferocity. He grumbled to himself as he worked, a sign that he was at least half crazy, muttering about 'Stupid Titans' and 'Green teens and hot grey chicks'. The sounds of metal clanging against metal, high-powered drills, and the suit's car components wouldn't attract attention here, as this part of town was loud anyway.

"Done." Adonis said to himself, moving back to observe his work. He had officially rebuilt and upgraded his suit to be bigger and badder than before. Aside from the many mechanical upgrades, the suit had a new paint-job of gold and black, making it look more like a pimp's decoration than for actual use, but the weak villain decided not to dwell on that.

"Just a few more things to do..." he mumbled, walking out the door of the garage and heading deeper into the ghetto of the city. "I'LL GET YOU TITANS!" he screamed to the sky, laughing maniacally as he continued down the road.

* * *

Out across the Jump City bay, said Titans were currently arguing against their leader.

"Why do we have to have a surprise late-night sparring session?" Beastboy complained as he met the others in the training room. It was two o'clock in the morning, and he had just been roused from a _deliciously_ good dream.

"You havin' a good dream or something?" Cyborg asked teasingly to his green teammate. His jest was answered with a tired glare.

"For your information, yes, I was having a very good dream before my sleep was interrupted. That brings me back to my previous argument. Robin, why exactly do we need to do this?" the shape shifter asked once again, his robot buddy moving away from the argument about to unfold. Robin sighed loudly as he looked around and saw the very same question in the others' eyes.

"We need to be prepared in case we are called for an alarm in the middle of the night." he said, annoyed at their constant questioning of his exercises. "This exercise will make sure we can still fight when tired." Both Raven and her brother standing next to her shot Robin identical glares, Raven choosing to speak on the behalf of both of them.

"And creating sleep deprivation in us helps with that?" she asked, cranky. Robin didn't react to her, but shrunk back a bit from Nightingale's backup glare. Being stared down by a six-and-a-half-foot-tall demon did that to you. Regaining his composure quickly, and ignoring Raven's question, Robin attempted to ignore the complaints.

"This is sparring with powers, going until someone is knocked out or they surrender. There are no boundaries, but try nothing lethal." the 'boy wonder' said in a commanding tone that oozed authority. His team groaned but accepted the training anyway. Robin continued with the mini-speech.

"The brackets will be: Cyborg and Starfire, Nightingale and Raven, and me and Beastboy. Once again, nothing lethal. Nightingale, **do not** run me through with _Shadow Slayer_." the leader said, putting emphasis on 'nothing lethal' and 'don't run me through'. "Cyborg and Star are up first, GO!"

With that shout, the half-robot and the alien began their match.

* * *

When Adonis finally found the place he was looking for, he rushed inside. Skinny white person and ghetto don't mix (Not being racist, this is actually based off of my experience getting lost in the ghetto) and he was already almost mugged about four times. Worst meeting place ever.

As he walked into the abandoned building, Adonis looked around for the sign of the dealer. A big gold 'G' stood out on one of the walls. Upon further inspection, a button was revealed. After Adonis pushed the button, a section of the wall randomly swung out and smashed into his side, knocking over his tiny frame.

Grumbling as he stood up, the scrawny man made his way down the stairway that just opened. At the end of the stairway was a room that had been lit up by many candles and a large brazier in the center of the room. The dealer was standing behind the brazier, stocking it with more wood to fuel the fire.

"Who has entered my domain?" he shouted, his loud voice echoing off the walls ominously. Adonis now wished he had brought the suit with.

"I have come for the technology I requested. For Adonis." he said in a surprisingly clear voice. The dealer seemed to nod, walking to a room behind a large throne and bringing back a small package. Adonis handed him a wad of cash in exchange for the small parcel. "Here's the payment, plus a little tip, for thanks." he said, looking delightedly at his new device.

As he left the run down house, Adonis thought about what this insignificant-looking box would bring. 'The Teen Titans will bow to the mighty will of Adonis.' he thought evilly. 'Now just to finish and execute my plans.'

* * *

Beastboy and Nightingale watched with tired interest as the alien and half-robot went at it. Starfire obviously had the upper hand, with flying and super-strength, but Cyborg could make some sort of comeback. Either way, the battle would be over very shortly. Nightingale spoke quietly to the changeling, having a headache from his sudden awakening.

"What were you dreaming about that has you so worked up?" the taller man asked, half-worried about his sulking teammate. Beastboy tried to reply with a nonchalant shrug, but the trained warrior next to him saw the blush on his cheeks.

"It's nothing, seriously." Beastboy said, his voice cracking from his nervousness. Nightingale saw through him easily.

"I was being serious." he told the smaller teen, frowning. "Tell me what's up." his second sentence had been a command, and Beastboy knew it.

"I don't want to talk about it, Nightingale. Please drop it." Nightingale persisted anyway.

"You know I'll find out, right? And if it isn't from you, I'm gonna shishkebob ya'." the demon said menacingly. Beastboy paled slightly, fearing the wrath of Raven's older brother should the nature of his dream be revealed. He took a breath and took his chances.

"If I tell you now, do you promise not to kill me?" he asked, voice wavering a bit in his fear. Nightingale looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding slightly, indicating that Beastboy should continue. "Raven. My dream was about Raven." he said, almost shouting, but going unnoticed by the others watching the fight.

'Oh great. I'm going to be shishkebobbed now.' Beastboy thought fearfully. He looked to the taller man, expecting a sword to the face. What he received instead, was a large smile from the chaos-traveler. He let a small chuckle out, startling the younger boy sitting next to him. A boy who apparently liked his sister.

"I'll tell you what." he said happily, small chuckles still escaping his mouth. "You make it to the top bracket of sparring right now, and I won't send you to another dimension for that. Plus, I'll give you permission to date my sister without me killing you. Deal?" Nightingale held his hand out to Beastboy, waiting for him to accept or decline. It'd be fun either way. On one hand Nightingale got to chase him around with the eventual running Beastboy through and sending him to another dimension. Or he would probably get to beat the crap out of the smaller teen. This was going to be fun.

Beastboy shook Nightingale's hand before getting called to his fight with Robin.

* * *

Adonis burst into the auto shop panting heavily.

"I really should learn to hide suspicious packages when I'm around cops." he said to himself breathlessly. When he had caught his breath, the villain looked to the box with an evil grin, moving to the only land line in the complex.

One more call and his plan would be completely set up...

* * *

Robin and Beastboy faced off calmly, neither showing any signs of wanting to back down.

"Ready BB?" Robin asked in a cocky voice. Beastboy had never won a single match. The green teen merely gave a growl and waited for Cyborg to ring the starting bell. Robin made the first charge as the bell tolled, moving towards Beastboy and intending for a one-hit KO.

Surprisingly, Beastboy dodged the skilled attack with ease, elbowing his leader in the side as a counter. Robin tripped over easily, smashing his face on the mat. The leader climbed up slowly, his mask wide in surprise at the sudden attack. He felt something dripping down his face, and Robin soon realized that Beastboy had made him bleed.

Instead of speaking angry words, Robin chose to charge Beastboy out of pure anger. Cyborg made a comment about how it was officially over and Raven agreed, being the two other than Nightingale still in the bracket. Beastboy needed only to repeatedly dodge the reckless attacks of his leader, moving to counterstrike every time. Robin fell over, knocked out after about five minutes of fighting.

Beastboy went to sit next to Cyborg, tired out even without taking any hits.

"Winner, Beastboy." Cyborg said, thanking himself for installing an poker face chip earlier in the year. The conscious Titans looked at Beastboy with wide eyes, their gazes inquiring how that had never happened before. He picked up on this, having animal senses, and addressed them.

"What? I usually don't care so I just drop out instead of participating." he said in way of explanation. "Don't tell me you never noticed that I fight much better than I spar?" he asked, looking at the understanding coming across their faces. Raven used this chance to make a comment.

"Of course you would be too lazy to try during training Beastboy." she said, face remaining neutral, but holding humor in her eyes. Cyborg burst out laughing from the comment, causing the others to laugh as well, even Beastboy, though the joke was at his expense.

"Time to get back to business." Cyborg said, still letting out a few chuckles. "Raven. Nightingale. You two are up."

"I forfeit." Raven said easily, not so much as moving from her seat. "What? You actually think I'm going to try to fight him when he has my powers plus some? He's my brother on top of that." she said indignantly, in response to the questioning gazes. Everybody shrugged, hoping to finish all of the sparring matches before Robin woke up again. Cyborg spoke first, addressing the fact that there were three people left in the match, an uneven number.

"Okay, Nightingale moves up, being the most powerful. Me and Beastboy will go at it real quick, then winner versus Nightingale." he said, waiting to make sure there were no arguments. When none came, him and Beastboy got into positions at opposite sides of the sparring mat.

"Go!" Nightingale said, stretching to get ready for the final match.

Beastboy and Cyborg circled each other, looking for openings in their opponent's stance. Beastboy charged first, making sure not to just go punch the half-metal man, lest he break his knuckles on his armored plating. The changeling ducked over his friend with remarkable agility, hoping to cut off the power source in a panel on his back.

Cyborg quickly turned around and went for a low-power sonic cannon shot, but Beastboy jumped out of the way, and the mat absorbed the weak blow. Cyborg missed where the shape shifter moved to, and he started circling around. Meanwhile, Beastboy had turned into an ant and was currently crawling to the panel that housed Cyborg's power circuits. They had installed an off-switch after the whole virus incident.

Cyborg realized where his friend was a bit too late, and fell over with his circuitry turning grey.

"Winner, Beastboy!" Nightingale declared, turning Cyborg back on, said person jumping up as soon as his systems rebooted.

"I lost?" he asked, though it was more of a statement. Nightingale nodded and took position, waiting for Beastboy to be ready. The green shape shifter moved to the other corner of the mat, having a silent celebration for his win. He turned to Nightingale and smiled, making a come here motion with his hand. Cyborg brought his hand down on the starting bell.

**"FIGHT!"**

Yay for the first chapter! I have left you on a cliff hanger, but technically this is only the testing chapter so that's fine with me. I hope everybody reviews, and I really want to hear some comments if you see anything wrong. I take criticism well. Well, add it to the alerts list and wait for the next chapter since I'm sure you want to see (read) Nightingale in action.

Also, if you have a hard time picturing him, I'm currently working to make pictures of him so you have something to go off of. Message me with any questions or other requests. Happy reading!


	2. Chapter 2

I will make no excuses for the long wait. I will try to update faster now.

I do not own Teen Titans. If i did, Nightingale would be a character.

* * *

Beastboy and Nightingale charged at each other with surprising speed, dodging at the last moment so as not to run into each other. Nightingale's fist lashed out at Beastboy's side, aiming for the ribs. The changeling quickly blocked, changing into a snake to slither away to the other end of the mat. When he reached the edge he turned around and changed into a bear, sharp claws coming from his paws.

Nightingale reached back for his sword, calling its' name.

"Shadowslayer*." he said calmly, the five-and-a-half foot blade turning into black rose petals and settling into two short daggers in his hands. He brought the two parts of his sword close to his face, signalling Beastboy to come.

Not one to back down, Beastboy charged, claws going for Nightingale's arms to disable him. Shadowslayer's shikai daggers came up to block the claws, parrying as if sword fighting, and disappearing to change into rose petals as Nightingale went to smash a fist into the green bear's side. Beastboy jumped back as he felt the crushing blow. Even with all of the muscle to protect him, Nightingale's strength still produced the pain of a regular punch plus some. Beastboy morphed back to human form, utilizing his opponent's unsaid breather.

"So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" the green changeling said, indicating the sheathing of Shadowslayer, which was once again resting on the taller man's back. Nightingale made no reply, merely moving to remove his signature sweatshirt, revealing the black wife-beater underneath. He smiled brightly as the cool air hit his rarely shown skin.

"I'm not gonna risk letting battle instincts get the better of me." the demon said, throwing his sweatshirt to the side while Shadowslayer disappeared once again, this time not reforming. Beastboy smirked back.

"Are you going to regret that?" he asked cockily, merely stalling for recuperative time.

"Not likely." Nightingale stated. "Let's go hand-to-hand. See if we can make the boy blunder here proud." Beastboy nodded.

"Sounds fine." he said, beginning to circle his opponent standing in the center as a predator does to captured prey. Raven's brother laughed at this.

"Fine. Kid gloves off then. I'll do this with my hands tied behind my back." he said in a confident tone.

"You're on." came the green boy's reply. Nightingale turned to Raven, who was sleeping while the heat of the training room lights washed over her.

"Cute." he said, before taking a deep breath. "OH RAEEEE-CHAAAANNN**" he called loudly, his voice echoing around the room. Cyborg widened his eyes from his position next to the slumbering half-demon, quickly moving out of the way of her wrath. Beastboy paled considerably as well, knowing that she would be angry. Raven shot up like a bullet, immediately aware and with red eyes burning holes into her brother's skull.

"WHAT?!" she shouted, disturbed. Her brother didn't twitch at all, nodding to his hands which were resting lightly in the pockets of his pants.

"You mind?" he asked, knowing she would do it because he was the one asking. If anything, Nightingale was the only person Raven would take orders from other than Robin, earning him high ranks among the rest of the Titans. The signature black glow bound his arms together in a tight ring around his torso, effectively stopping all interfering movement while retaining basic upper body movement. The half-demoness decided to stay up and watch the remainder of the match, if only to see to it that the spell stayed intact.

Cyborg let out a large sigh of relief along with Beastboy, happy to avoid Raven's wrath.

And with that, Cyborg rung the bell, and the match started once again.

* * *

"Hello, this is DOCTOR LIGHT! May I ask who's calling?" came the quiet, then loud, then quiet voice of the crackpot villain on the other end. Adonis looked around the street from the security of his phone booth. Darkness in either direction. The power was out on this street. There was nobody around to see or hear him make the call.

"It's Adonis. I need a favor, Arthur." The small villain said into the phone, moving away from the grinding sound of machinery on the other end of the line.

"Hmm. Yeah, sure, I can do it. I owe you for breaking me out, anyway." the crazed villain said, grumbling after Adonis heard a sizzling noise, akin to the sound of fuses shorting out.

"Great. Here's the plan..."

* * *

"Where'd Rob and Star go?" Cyborg asked Raven as they watched Beastboy and Nightingale go at it. The match seemed to be about even right now, considering Nightingale's hands were behind his back. Raven looked to her robotic friend, who was searching the room for the acrobat and alien.

"I'm pretty sure Star took him to bed." she said casually, cringing a little as she saw Beastboy land a solid punch to her brother's gut. "It's amazing that they won't just quit." she spoke, watching Nightingale's counter-attack, which consisted of jumping onto Beastboy's arm, then head, and shoving him to the ground. Cyborg nodded.

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure I heard them setting a bet before. They're both determined people, so they wouldn't back down." the teen stated, knowing the green boy wouldn't quit until he was knocked out in this fight. The two fighters seemed to be slowing down, so Cyborg and Raven turned to watch the end of the match.

Beastboy and Nightingale once again stood apart from each other, taking a break. They were pretty beat up, with an insane amount of bruises and Beastboy's bloody nose among the injury count. Nightingale spit out some blood, the effects of Beastboy's last punch.

"Should I stop holding back now?" he asked with a smirk, making Beastboy's eyes widen.

"You weren't even fighting with full power?" he asked, stupified at how hard he was fighting being easy for the demon on front of him. (well he's a DEMON. Of course he owns, Beastboy.)

"Not even ten percent my green friend. One last hit. Let's go."

Before anybody had time to react, Nightingale was right in front of Beastboy, courtesy of his flash-step. Beastboy made an attempt to move but was swept off his feet as the demon swung his leg around in a circle, spinning the changeling into mid-air. Nightingale quickly put his foot on Beastboy's chest, as the poor boy's legs were facing the ceiling in his flight.

With what looked like a large shockwave of power, Nightingale kicked out, propelling Beastboy forward and into the wall with a large thud. The unfortunate opponent of the demon was shown no mercy, crashing through the walls of the training room, the laundry room, and the common room before coming to a rough stop as he crashed into the wall near the fridge.

Raven quickly stood up, rushing to the changeling's side after smacking her brother in the head with all of the force she could muster. Said green boy was out absolutely cold, most likely having a bad concussion if not severe head trauma from the force of his impacts.

The dark sorceress leaned over to inspect his wounds, healing all of the bruises she could find. His head was bleeding slightly, and she quickly tended to that as well. She used her magic to look over him for any injuries that couldn't be immediately seen, and counted his injuries. A mild concussion, some bruised ribs, and a dislocated arm were easy fixes. Except for the concussion, which would need to heal on its own.

Her brother walked over sheepishly, examining Beastboy's still form, which was sprawled half on the wall and half on the ground, as Raven was moving him slowly to reduce further injuries.

"I put a little too much power into that, didn't I?" he asked, if only to be nice. He very well knew how much power was behind that kick, and was damn proud of it. Furthering their relationship through injury... an old and painful method, but he was sure it'd be very effective. Raven turned away from their teammate's form for a few seconds to glare at her older brother, who held up his hands in surrender.

"Fine, fine. I got it, I'm out of here." he said in a surrendering tone. "I'm just gonna' go back to sleep then. Also, I'm going to visit Noir and Leo in the morning, but I should be back by lunch. Call me if I'm needed for a mission." he reminded her, just making sure nobody would get mad at him for visiting his girlfriends. (not a typo. Just PM me or review if you really want to know more about that one. I may explain in the next chapter, but I'm not sure)

Raven nodded, giving no words as she was still angry with him for hurting Beastboy so bad. Her emotions were going wild in her head.

'Awwww, he hurt my Beastyboo.' Happy complained in a slightly sad tone.

'Is Beastboy going to be alright?' Timid asked, voice small among the others.

'He'll be fine. You see how tough Beastboy is? He was doing great!' Brave yelled, not worried at all.

'He did lose, though.' Rude said, referring to Brave's comment.

'It wouldn't have likely mattered anyway.' Knowledge said, keeping up the conversation. 'No living being in the Multiverse can match Nightingale's fighting strength. Nobody has a chance fighting against him.'

'Who cares about winning or losing? Beastboy looked so cute while he was fighting!' Love called out, her voice dreamy. There was silent agreement about the truth behind her words, and then the conversation continued.

'Who really cares?' Sloth asked slowly. 'I just want to go to sleep.'

'Shut up or I'll kill you all.' Rage simply said, ending the conversation which was beginning to give Raven a headache.

Beastboy was now fully healed and lying on the floor, limbs sprawled out all over the place, and head resting on Raven's lap. 'Only for the healing.' she thought shyly.

'Don't lie to yourself!' all of her emotions shouted at once. Except for Timid, who whispered.

The purple-haired girl blushed slightly, and began moving her green friend to the infirmary.

* * *

Alright, I totally cut that one short, and I'm sorry for that, but I really can't go on. The next chapter will be up as soon as I get one up for 'Boy Troubles' which shouldn't take TOO long. Just be cool and wait a bit. Now for the extra info section.

*"Shadowslayer.": Shadowslayer is the name of Nightingale's sword, and the name is used to activate its' powers. The blade is usually 5.5 feet long, and is all black with no guard. When the name is called it changes into two daggers, which are about 4 inches long (quite short for a dagger) and also black, but having straight blades. The name derives from the power it has, granting Nightingale the ability to move between shadows and make strikes from them. There is a Bankai (Full Release; Taken from Bleach) which I haven't planned out yet. It will probably appear in this story.

**"OH RAEEEE-CHAAAANNN": Nightingale comes from anime and Japanese games, therefore I give him many Japanese traits, like using honorifics.


	3. Chapter 3

Blitz: YAY! New chapter!

Darkflame: Thanks for the reviews. The boss appreciates them.

Blitz: Yup! The boss does not own Teen Titans, but before we start the story, we get to do mail call!

Darkflame: Oh joy. *Sarcasm*

* * *

Kiri-Kay- "Nice chapter. I liked the fight scene especially."

Blitz: Thankees ^-^

Darkflame: Plenty more... eventually.

* * *

DarkDiDlly- "Did you make Nightingale up? He's a pretty wicked guy, nice job."

Darkflame: He's the boss' OC. Thanks for the compliment.

Blitz: We'll probably be showing off more of his power later on, when Adonis is introduced directly.

* * *

Blitz: Last time, on "The Caged Bird"...

* * *

Beastboy was now fully healed and lying on the floor, limbs sprawled out all over the place, and head resting on Raven's lap. 'Only for the healing.' she thought shyly.

'Don't lie to yourself!' all of her emotions shouted at once. Except for Timid, who whispered.

The purple-haired girl blushed slightly, and began moving her green friend to the infirmary.

* * *

As she dragged Beastboy through the hallways to the infirmary, Raven had a conversation with her emotions.

'Does anybody want to explain exactly why I can't use my powers to carry him?' Raven asked her eight copies. Knowledge answered for the others, attempting to save the short-tempered half-demoness from having a breakdown.

'You are attempting not to crush him with your powers because he might still be fragile from the healing process.' she said, satisfying Raven for the moment. In her attempt not to hurt the poor changeling again, Raven was practically carrying him. His back was pressed up against her chest, and her arms snaked under his arms and around his ribcage lightly for support. She was walking backwards, so Beastboy was more leaning on her than her carrying him, but it meant she had to look behind herself every few seconds so as not to bump into anything.

'Who needs powers to carry people when we have a certain cute changeling pressed against our chest?' Love cooed in a seductive whisper. Raven blushed scarlet and almost dropped her friend, listening to the answers of agreement exchanged over that comment. Though two in particular shocked her.

'Agreed.' Rage said, her voice demonic.

'Y-Y-Yeah.' Timid stuttered out, effectively silencing the rest of the emotions.

'Even you two!?' Raven exclaimed, turning onto the infirmary hallway.

'Not my fault I get your stupid love, too.' Rage grumbled.

"I-It f-feels... nice.' Timid whispered, presumably moving to hide under her cloak again. Raven sighed heavily. Her emotions were beginning to give her a headache.

'Can you all just please be quiet so I don't end up dropping Beastboy?' she asked them, effectively silencing the sides of her mind.

The purple-haired demoness continued to trudge down the hall, doing her best not to fall over. While Beastboy wasn't the heaviest guy in the world, some newly-acquired muscle was beginning to give him some weight, and it proved true in this situation. She also fought the urge to just pick him up with her powers and teleport them the rest of the way, as the feeling of his body heat radiating onto her wasn't doing much good for her focus.

She finally reached the medical wing a few minutes later, and set her green friend onto one of the beds as carefully as she could. She set about making sure his currently-fragile bones hadn't rebroken, and was disappointed to find that although she had fixed the bruising on most of them, a few of his ribs had remained broken and avoided her healing powers. This meant she would have to wrap his chest, and the teenager blushed scarlet at the thought of it.

Raven slowly peeled off the upper part of Beastboy's uniform, giving thanks to the fact that he had recently decided to make his uniform a shirt and pants instead of a one-piece suit. It looked exactly the same as before, but he said it made changing easier. As she finally wrestled the skin-tight garment over his head, she realized just how bad his wounds were. Her friend's normally green chest was black and blue in most places, and the scars that covered it seemed to stand out due to the miscoloring.

The Titans had all been shocked the first time they went to the beach together and he took off his shirt.

* * *

The happy green teenager practically ripped off his shirt as he ran towards the water, belatedly realizing that his friends hadn't followed after his shins became covered by the frothy waves. He turned around, looking critically at the four shocked teens standing by their beach gear. They gave him weary glances, and he looked around worriedly.

"There a shark in the water or something?" he asked, breaking the awkward silence. His teammates just continued to stare, not knowing if it was a joke or not. Beastboy seemed genuinely worried as time went by with them just staring at him, and he stepped out of the cold water to see what was wrong.

Cyborg's eyes followed his movements with a calculating gaze.

Robin looked at him with suspicion.

Starfire looked as if she were about to cry.

And Raven just stared at him with wide eyes, showing genuine surprise and... was that anger?

"Alright, you guys are seriously freaking me out right now." their green teammate said worriedly, now standing a few feet in front of them. "What's wrong?"

"F-Friend Beastboy! What has happened to your body?" Starfire nearly shouted, saying what everybody was thinking. Beastboy looked down at himself in confusion before realizing what he had just bared to them. Intricate and interlacing patterns of scars covered his torso, gradually coming to a stop just before his beltline. The everlasting markings didn't merely stop at his chest. They stretched up and over his shoulders, moving down his arms and stopping at the elbow. His gloves were still present, even in the presence of the sand, and so they figured his hands were something he didn't want to show. The pattern continued on his back and sides, wrapping around his upper torso and stopping at his neck.

"S-Sorry." He stuttered out, quickly moving to grab his shirt. The piece of clothing was grabbed, however, by Cyborg, and Robin stepped in front of Beastboy with a hard glare on his face. Like Beastboy's gloves, the mask was still firmly on his face, but Beastboy could feel the disapproving glare coming from behind the harsh white covering.

"How did it happen?" he asked firmly. Beastboy detected only the slightest hint of worry from his leader's tone, but he wasn't happy regardless.

"It's nothing." the green teen said firmly. "Now give my shirt back."

"Please, friend Beastboy. We only wish to know who it is who harmed you." Starfire tried to reason, her voice seeming to snap her scarred friend out of his defensive trance. Raven stood nearby, remaining silent while the others interrogated Beastboy.

Silence reigned for a few moments until the demoness couldn't take it anymore and retrieved Beastboy's shirt from Cyborg via her powers. The changeling sent her a thankful glance, to which she blushed and looked at the ground before he noticed. Robin was about to say something else when Beastboy spoke up.

"My past is something we will never delve into. This will not be discussed again." he told them harshly. Robin looked taken aback while the others nodded, though Starfire still seemed worried for her green friend. They continued to play around until the awkward air dissipated and everybody had fun again, but the thought of Beastboy's scars were not forgotten by his friends.

* * *

Raven was snapped out of her memories when Beastboy coughed, making him wince from the pain in his chest. The female half-demon noted that she had bandaged him while off in memory-land, and thanked whichever emotion made sure she did that. It wouldn't be good for Beastboy to wake up shirtless with her right there. The coughing slowly quieted down until it stopped, and the changeling laid his head back onto the pillows of the infirmary bed.

"You have four broken ribs." Raven told him, watching him nod in recognition of her words. "Try not to move around too much, or you might end up damaging something else."

"Thanks Raven." he choked out quietly, the mere action of speaking causing him pain. The girl he was talking to sighed in exasperation.

"That means no speaking as well." She saw him opening his mouth to argue. "No 'but's." she told him firmly, making Beastboy shut his mouth for the time being. "You'll be staying here for a few days, to give your rapid healing time to kick in. No missions until then. I'll come to give you breakfast when we have it."

Beastboy nodded again, accepting her terms.

"Alright then. Go to sleep Beastboy." Raven told him, walking out of the room and shutting the lights.

When the steps of the half-demon could not be heard any longer, Beastboy closed his eyes and went to sleep.

* * *

Adonis watched with delight as the sun rose over the water, signalling that his plan would come to fruition in a few short hours. He smiled evilly and let out a devious laugh.

"You'll soon be begging for mercy, Titans."

* * *

Blitz: Yay! Finally finished!

Darkflame: Excuse the boss' more-adult-than-usual themes at the beginning. I'll hit him in your stead.

Blitz: We were just dabbling more into Love's other sides. AKA lust and passion.

Darkflame: Next chapter will feature Adonis' plan finally happening. And more fighting. *sadistic smile*

Blitz: It will also, kind of, explain why Nightingale can have two girlfriends. We've created a very good reason that isn't just some cop-out like "it's normal there."


End file.
